The Universe as a Projection of the Divine

All manifestation is a projection of God Himself! He is maintaining this entire creation. He closes His Eyes, He dissolves the creation, and He can re-create it, re-manifest it instantly if He likes. And nobody is really destroyed, because all is re-absorbed into the divine Existence, into the Consciousness Divine. This is the scheme of creation.

It is God appearing as the universe! Do not be deceived by the appearances but experience the Substance. And the Substance is of the nature of infinite Light, infinite Peace, Joy, Power, Grace, Beauty which is appearing as the world, as the people around, as the sounds, as the colours. All this external life is a manifestation of the Divine and, therefore, divine. This, if perverted, one mistakes for the whole of the Reality, the whole of the Divinity, and one plunges into this by forgetting the original fact that there is something above this and beyond this. And what is this external life? Only a partial expression of the Divine. Momentarily, for the human mind there is appearing something called 'the world'. In Truth, there is no such thing as the world - there is only a nameless, formless, all-wonderful divine Consciousness. We assume the world to be an expression of the Divine. And through the world the Divine has to be experienced. And when the Divine is experienced, one has to express into this world something of the treasures of the Divine. This is the philosophy of our institution.

All creatures are God manifest, edged into limitation. And these limitations are further worsened by a personality, constructed as a result of these limitations, which are the psychic being, the unconsciousness and the outer mind. The physical body of man, man's organism, is such that it permits this God to present Himself in man, to see Himself, experience Himself and know Himself. For this reason he is superior to all creatures. It is, therefore, a very rare gift to have a physical human body; it is the first great gift of God. Through the body man can achieve the Perfection of the omnipresent God. Remember the Truth: everywhere there is space only for God! The world is created by God and is a field of experience of God; it is a stage on which we can attain unending Peace, Happiness, Power, Knowledge, Wisdom, Beauty.

There are several invisible worlds interpenetrating this visible universe. The subtlest of all worlds is the Divine Itself. It is penetrating everything, is sustaining everything by being the inner Essence in everything. And this Essence in everything is so subtle, so supra-electronic, so sensitive, so rich in capacities, that being in everything It feeds everything, sustains everything and develops highest capacities. If you know this, you will always have a background feeling that all matter is vibrant with the Presence of the Divine. It takes a scientist to discover that all is formed of energy. And it takes a Truth-seer, a God-knower, to discover that all is the bearer of the Divine.

Man, in a state of highest purity and when touched by the Grace of God, experiences the outer world as God, as Reality, as a structure of the divine Being. The difference in experiencing the world - whether materially or spiritually - lies in the inner vision. When our inner vision is divine, exalted, spiritual, then we see another world, a wonderful divine Presence everywhere in the world.

To be touched by the Grace of God is the same as to possess the Wisdom of God. You are constantly filled with a strange inner joy, a continual inner peace, inner light and love. You are perpetually creative, even though you may not do anything. Your Spirit is active, is expressive. Blessings flow from your heart to the whole creation. You perceive the Divine everywhere. The Presence of the Divine is constantly felt in all living things, it is felt in the whole sky, all around you. The Presence of the Divine is incessantly acknowledged by you, within and without. You live in the Face of the Divine, under the Eyes of the Divine. It is then that you become a perpetual blessing to all creation. No matter that you do not talk to anyone, or may not even be serving anyone, it is yet completely true that you are a great blessing to every creature; you are a perpetual blessing to the whole creation. Then you are filled with Light of the divine Presence, you are full of the Wisdom of God, you are full of the creative Knowledge of God.

You then lead a beautiful and blessed life which is not only beautiful and blessed for yourself but for thousands - for the very air around you, for the whole space around you, for all invisible creatures around you, for all visible things around you' You can contribute to reaching this goal by being always in a spiritual state of consciousness. Be always aware that God is surrounding you; that you are never separated from Him; that He is all-seeing, all-merciful and all-blessing; that you are in Him, and He is in you; that your only duty is to express wisdom, express love, express goodness, express good actions. Develop your aspirations and your faith. Always bless the world; always be in a positive state, in a state made up of faith; feel the all-seeing Divinity within and around you. And if you continue your spiritual practices, your capacities are endless and unlimited.

The whole cosmos is tied to every individual in the universe. If somebody hits you on the toe, you feel it at once; and if somebody touches your head, at once you feel it, because the whole body is an organic whole. Nobody can touch any stone, or dry leaf, or any being or person in the world without the whole cosmos feeling it. It is not poetry but a fact that, when a good man or devotee of the Divine is walking by, secretly the whole Nature, material and immaterial, animate and inanimate, delights. The whole Nature is indebted to him, because he releases into Nature most harmonious, unifying, integrating, uplifting influences. In mythology you find people saying: 'Oh, tree, be my witness!' Sometimes, in mythology you find that even matter, the earth, is made to be witness. It is not poetry but a scientific fact that there is an all-seeing Intelligence even in inanimate matter and of which matter does not know; likewise as in man there is the all-knowing divine Reality of which man himself knows nothing.

Even in minerals the infinite divine Presence is existent. It is present with all Its Perfection, with all Its Omniscience, Its Omnipotence and Omnipresence. It is behind there as the central Witness and as the rudimentary Soul. This Soul in the mineral grows, develops and becomes a feeling in the plant; therein is the animal's lust and greed, hatred and jealousy. In man there are all these, plus will-power, plus many faculties and capabilities. The human kingdom is the crown of creation and, therefore, the supreme value and importance of human life.

How to define each stage of evolution: mineral, plant, animal, man? What is the difference from one step to another? The difference is of material nature. Alongside the material differences, there is the difference in life form. Alongside the life form differences, there are structural, organic and mental differences as well as differences in consciousness. Man's brain organism is so developed that it makes other faculties, which are absent in the lower animals, come into operation. In that way the fullest expression of the latent consciousness, the latent life in many-sided expression is made possible to the extent where every innovation, improvisation, insight, imagination in man can be implemented and his experience enriched, thus enriching everything. So, it is a difference in the structure through which the latent consciousness and life express themselves. In the man stage the structure and basis permitting life and consciousness to come into expression are so far developed that here man is supreme in creation.

All is Consciousness

We do not live in a material universe but in a spiritual universe. All matter can be converted into energy; all energy can be converted into Consciousness. Two forms of this Consciousness are matter and mind. Matter is a manifestation of Consciousness, in Consciousness, as Consciousness. And there is on the other hand the mind.

This, too, is Consciousness. So, everywhere there is Consciousness. By Consciousness we mean that which transcends even this empirical awareness. It is absolute Consciousness. God is absolute Intelligence, absolute Awareness, absolute Consciousness. The human awareness is limited; there are conditions in which it flows.
The supreme divine Consciousness is present everywhere in all its infinite Perfection. There is in you a Divinity which is supremely perfect. All your spiritual progress pertains only to your outer individual being and to your soul; it has no relation to the Infinite. That is already there in the individual in you, unaffected by the individual and its limitations and bondages. It is the soul that evolves until it realizes its background: the infinite all-perfect Being. Then it becomes one with the Divine, at the human stage and beyond the human stage. Evolution is only possible for that which is limited; that which is unlimited cannot evolve, it is already fully evolved, perfect.

Merged into the Divine, having become one with the One, the soul is completely absorbed in the Consciousness of the One. This Consciousness is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient. Aware of the Omnipotence of God within him, above him, around him, there is no reason for man to fear anything, to feel weak at any time; it is impossible for him to think anything wrong, feel anything wrong, make any mistakes. His mind is made to understand, experience and express this Omnipotence of the Divinity within him. When we are absorbed in the Consciousness of the One, where is anything that can confront us, limit us, distress us'
The million varieties of things that you see in the world are formed by one Being: GOD - with His own Substance, in His own Substance, in Himself, of Himself. If you do not see Him there, you are in the field of untruth, you are materialistic, you are sensuous, you are limited, you are cut off from infinite Happiness, Peace, Power, Beauty. When you do not live in God, you are in the field of untruth, you are in a world which is deprived of true light; you then are a source of unhappiness to yourself and to others, though your works are admired by human beings. Therefore, do your best in order to be in tune with the world of God. See everywhere what there is: the Presence of the Divine.

There is nothing wrong in planting beautiful rose plants; but if you do not see God in them and also in the hands that are planting and also in the earth and all around - you are in the field of untruth. You are exposing yourself to difficulties, and there is much danger for you.

Since the whole universe is also of psychic substance, it can be transformed by the psychical principle in man. Everything can appear to him as he wants it. If he wants everything to be peaceful, he can experience it to be peaceful. If he wants to experience everything as the Divine, he can experience everything as the Divine. But if his mental state is too low and primitive - though the highest Reality is present everywhere behind the psychical veil of the universe - he will experience only unhappiness, misery, problems, difficulties, trials. Even as the mountain and the iron poles in the dream are nothing but made of psychical structure and not actually material, though they seem to be material - even so all the universe external is made of psychical structure, not material, though it seems to be material.

The following story may illustrate the above said: In a corner of the studio of a great artist there was a wonderful black stone. All the inmates of the house of the sculptor have been always referring to it as 'the stone'. One day the sculptor has carved of it a beautiful image of a woman. From that day the sculptor and the inmates of that house have been always calling it 'the woman'. They have been always observing it, looking at it as a woman, even talking of it as 'the woman'. The idea that it is 'the woman' has gone deeply into their unconscious mind. There was no trace of any thought that it was and is only a stone. All that had happened to the stone was that a little of its shape has been disturbed. The stone as such had disappeared for them, and to them it is 'the woman'. In truth it is the same stone, it is nothing but a stone.
Even so the human mind takes the appearances as world, refers to it as 'the world', suffers by it or perceives pleasures in it, while the Truth is: it is nothing but God Himself! God alone is all that is, within, around, everywhere. All this is God Himself, as the woman, as the stone. Even as the woman is nothing but the stone itself in another shape, so is the world God Himself in another shape. The human mind has mistaken God for the world, as the sculptor and the others in that house have mistaken the stone for the woman. All problems begin to arise the moment you forget that the world is nothing but God Himself.

The Divinity in Man

Man is not merely a creature among many creatures in creation but the bearer of the Creator in creation, and therefore, by that very reason, supremely great. He is greater than the creation. Without that Creator he is nothing more than a dry and broken reed. It is the Presence of the Creator in the inner Spirit of man that makes him greater than the creation. With that much of greatness that you bear in your soul, why have you to beg about for small solutions of the created universe?

Creature that you are, you are greater than creation! Is that not a paradox, a puzzle? You are not even stronger than a pebble, yet you are greater than the creation! What makes this possible for you? The mere fact that the Creator dwells in your inner being. By this reason you are infinitely greater than the creation, no matter how great the creation is, how valuable everything within creation be...
Look at the great emperors of the world in the last two thousand years. Each thought he would make himself happy by conquering new lands, by having much wealth, by having many pleasures. Almost every emperor had everything that he wanted, but few mortals were more miserable than those emperors, and few have met a death that they have met with.

This is the most wonderful thing about you: though you are yourself a product of the product that the universe is, you carry in yourself the Creator! This is the one factor which elevates you above the universe. As long as this is so, you are, theoretically at least, assured of total freedom from the limitations that the universe imposes on you. You can make this a practical fact by your personal striving. The Creator is infinitely greater than everything that is created; He is within you while all the time transcending you.

Let us say, in a bottle there is space or air. Though the air is inside the bottle, there is also air outside the bottle, it transcends the boundaries of the bottle. Even so the Spirit, called the Creator, while dwelling in your inner being, transcends the limitations of your body, of your mind, of every psychological principle in you. This fact makes you the crown of creation; it sets on you unending dignity and makes you heir to everything the Divine has!

Everything that is visible in the universe is nothing compared to that which is within you! That is why a holy scripture in its wonderful wisdom says: 'That which is within you is greater than that which is without you!'
What is without you? The whole universe, the sun and the moon and the stars, the planets, the entire cosmos - all this is outside you. But what is outside you - no matter if it be immeasurable space, or endless mountains of gold and diamonds, or endless seas of milk and butter and honey, no matter what it is, what power it is, what value it is - all this is smaller than what is within you. What is within you is always the greater. If you can conceive of something very great, be sure that there is something greater than that, and that is within you. What could be that marvellous thing? It is the Divine, God, the Creator! It is this fact that is the cause for your restlessness. You are conscious of something great, but you are not definite about what it is. You hunger for something great, but you do not know what it is.

The waters of the world can be exhausted - but nothing can exhaust the resources in the creative Intelligence of the Creator. All resources in the Creator are inexhaustible, unlimited. Use them unlimitedly, endlessly, still they are endless and unlimited. Inexhaustible resources - be it in water, in power or energy, be it in intelligence, in genius or life, be it in art or beauty, in peace, freedom, happiness, in all you can think of - are in the Creator.

Though God produces endless numbers of geniuses, numberless universes, His Wisdom and His creative Capacities do not wane. He has endless possibilities. Countless numbers of universes like this may appear and disappear. Scientists say, many stars have already died, though they are still visible to us. Many universes have already disappeared, and many more are on the way to disappear. What is this mysterious intelligence from which all this emerges? God, a mighty Presence, present within every man, in all creation, while at the same time transcending creation. It is not caught up in the universe which It has projected. It is always infinitely greater than the universe.

Man, as he is constituted, seems to be a helpless, tiny creature in this gigantic world of gigantic powers and forces. Yet such a man has the highest redeeming Principle in him, the whole of the Creator is in him. The Image of God is not different from God Himself, it is one and the same; there are no two Gods. This Divinity holds the key to all our problems. It is the true and the final and consummate fulfilment of life.
Turn to the Creator, and you will find numberless inner resources serving you.

No matter what energy science can create in consequence of the best functioning of the best genius of the best scientist - it will have an end, it will be accompanied by problems. Yet no one can exhaust the love in your heart, no one can exhaust the peace in your heart, no one can exhaust the joy, the beauty, the knowledge in your being if you have contacted the Creator. The earlier you recognize this fact, the more noble, dignified, valuable your life becomes. All that you need to do every day is to turn a little of your thoughts towards the Divine, the Creator, and, when possible, devote a little time to Him, do some selfless service, seek to develop your love and extend it to creation. How valuable your life is, how wonderful you are, rests upon how profitably you use every hour of your life for the acquisition of this Wisdom of God. It is the knowledge of this boundless, all-witnessing, all-knowing, all-creative Intelligence that adds a new and boundless worth to your life. Without such a knowledge life is worthless, is deprived of its real dignity; therefore, knowledge of the Divine is the fundamental necessity.

Be an embodiment of the Wisdom of God!

Be full of the knowledge of God, walk as an embodiment of the knowledge of God - and you will have a thousand blessings. You will have perpetual peace, you will have endless resources. You are independent in your happiness and, therefore, can make others happy. Others can profit from you, depend upon your wisdom, derive strength from your wisdom, find new outlooks and inspiration in their lives through your wisdom. It even may be that through your aid they come closer to God and become themselves independent sources of strength and peace and joy for others.

You have a thousand ways out of creation open for you, ways out of the limitations which are characteristic of creation. Many great men of God have established in many conditions and circumstances and situations of life relations with the Creator. While washing the dishes, a Saint has established relations with the Creator. As a housewife you may become the greatest creature among the creatures in the universe by the kind of relations you establish with the Divine. Every little thought devoted to the Divine enriches you in a manner as nothing in creation can enrich you, even if you possess the whole of it. Therefore, wisdom tells us: turn to the Divine! You have twenty-four hours in a day. Devote at least twenty seconds or twenty minutes to the Divine, and you will be richer for it; you will be more peaceful for it; you will find new channels struck in order that the resources from the Creator may come into you - the creature within the creation. These channels will constantly feed you with inexhaustible resources. The creature within creation that man is owes himself the duty of somehow discovering the Creator and establishing relations with Him, of discovering the Divine and establishing relation with It.

Wherever you may be, in whatever circumstances you may be, just think of the Creator - and you will find the Creator thinking of you a thousand times! He has a million hearts, and He has one boundless Heart of infinite and inexhaustible Love. Every little thought concerning the Creator compels the Creator to think of you a thousand times. Thus you will be led from one reality to another, until you discover that which is the greatest of all greatest things: the Truth, the Timeless, the Infinite, the Eternal, the Divine, the Absolute! If you befriend that Divinity, you attain eternal life, you are liberated from the hold of the universe. Everything that is within the universe is subject to the conditions which have formed the universe, and these conditions tyrannize the human spirit. Man longs for peace, and peace is nowhere to be found.

There is only o n e way you can find rest and peace and joy and power and strength in life; catch the Creator! That is your Lover, that is your Father, that is the Soul of your life, that is the Secret of all satisfaction, that is the supreme creative Principle! Befriend the Creator, talk to Him, converse with Him, cultivate relations with Him. He is all-sensitive. Every word of yours is heard by Him; every thought of yours is seen by Him; every feeling in your heart is felt by Him. He responds to you in a way that nothing else in the world can respond to you. Before your own ears can hear your own words, He hears you. He is closer to your words than your tongue. He is the pervading Reality, the Intelligence of intelligence, the Space of space, the supreme creative Principle.

Try to establish in your own way relations with the Divine Being, with That which is the Greatest of the greatest, which knows everything everywhere, which is sustaining everything everywhere, and which is transcending everything everywhere. Maybe by meditation, or by prayer, or by the noblest conduct, or by devotion, or by any other method, or by all methods - try to establish relations with this supreme Creator. Merely to address the Creator is a great gain. Human history is full of examples of persons who have conversed with the infinite Peace, who have experienced the eternal Life while being in the mortal body, who have tasted boundless infinite Power while yet being helplessly caught up in this physical form. Though being in the limitations in which we are in this universe, we can still, here and now, experience That which transcends the universe while sustaining the universe.

The whole genius of life in creation lies in its capacity to experience the Creator. Every creature is richer for a mere awareness of the Creator. The creature is destined to perish - whether it is a lizard or a fly, a bird or fish, whether it is an elephant, a lion, a snake, a man, no matter what the creature is - it has formed a body that perishes. Every creature is a perishable thing; the whole creation itself is perishable. Though the creation endures beyond our bodies, though the creation has a longer life than the creatures - everything is perishable. In this perishability the only way out is to have a hold on the Creator. To have a hold on the Creator is to lose our mortality, to lose the fear of death. The possibility of perishing is taken away the moment we have a hold on the Imperishable, on the Creator. Not only is the mortality lost and a conscious awareness of immortality gained, but one also dwells in a perpetual delight, in ever new joy, in the fullness of joy. Therein is the true satisfaction; therein is the real rest for man. Nothing in life is a greater goal or is more valuable. Blessed are those creatures who seek to befriend the Creator.

All that you see or hear or think of is within creation. The whole creation as such is marked by perishability, by imperfection; no matter what it is, it shares the characteristics of the creation which is imperfect. Therefore, it becomes the duty of everything created to turn towards the Creator, to befriend the Creator, to reflect upon the Nature of the Creator, to find roads and ways by which one can contact the Creator, to live in the Creator while yet living within the creation.

Always try to befriend the Creator!

When all friends in life fail you, this Friend will never fail you. When wealth fails you, this Wealth will never fail you; it is ever creative Wealth, it is inexhaustible Wealth. So, wisdom says, keep, if not both, at least one eye upon the Divine! That would be sufficient to establish for you every kind of security. It also would be sufficient to cause in you that wisdom which will awaken a third eye in you that is constantly focussed on the Divine. From such a focussing you will draw resources which are non-existent in the whole creation.
What do you need: something in creation or the Creator Himself?

To ask for and to strive after that which is in creation is asking for and striving after that which is perishable, something that falls away through your fingers. Every man in the world strives for something or the other within creation; and he is the greatest who strives after the Creator Himself. To strive after the Creator, to make the Creator dwell in our hearts, walk with us, be with us in all conditions - this is the greatest blessing, this is the ultimate fulfilment of life, this is to have something which nothing in creation can ever give. Everything in creation, no matter how precious and valuable it be, is infinitely less than the Creator.
Liberation ultimate and absolute is possible because you are not a condemned creature in creation but a creature bearing the whole of the Creator in yourself! This is the security and assurance of your total liberation and freedom. For true freedom, true peace, true joy of life, and for eternal life you have to turn to the Creator, the highest Principle within the creation, and the highest Principle transcending all that is created.

May the Divine open in your blessed lives many ways by which you are in constant contact with the supreme Creator. May your love and your wisdom secure for you many forms of relations with the Creator and make your life a thing eternal in the mortal field, in the field of creation. Even when the creation disappears, that which is eternal in you remains, has perpetual fulfillment in itself, ever new fulfilment, absolute fulfilment.

Swami Omkarananda